OUTCOMES 2019—Everybody Wins, a two-day event solely focused on ensuring successful 401k participant (what else?) outcomes, kicks off in Denver this weekend.
The agenda includes a who’s-who of retirement plan and outcome-oriented advisors, including Fiduciary Plan Advisors’ Jania Stout, intellicents CEO Brad Arends, ARGI Senior Financial Advisor Jeanne Fisher, and CSI Advisory Services Managing Partner Kristi Baker.
Day 1: Super sessions, health savings and setting yourself apart
It all starts on Sunday morning with a Super CE session on “Retirement Plans for Small Business” from John Hancock’s Matthew Savage.
Conference host Ross Marino then introduces Daniel Bryant, President of National Sales, Retirement and Private Wealth with Sheridan Road Financial, a division of HUB International, for a frank discussion of debt, and how participants should “Borrow Less Today,” a play on behavioral economists Richard Thaler and Shlomo Benartzi’s “Save More Tomorrow” concept.
Vincent Morris, President of Resources Investment Advisors, takes the stage to then explain integrated tools and techniques make financial education accessible for all participants. Through 1) proactive and timely outreach 2) automated tools and 3) personalized strategies, participants save more and plan sponsors see reduced employee financial stress.
The Fintech Track features RetireReady Solutions’ Edward Dressel, and his presentation on how to “Justify Higher Fees: Three Ways to Differentiate Yourself.”
“Don’t commoditize yourself!” Dressel emphatically (and rightly) states. “Many 401(k) plans are moving toward lower fees and standardized service. Separate yourself from other advisors by providing engaging education meetings for participants that not only allow you to charge higher fees, they increase plan sponsor satisfaction and your AUM.”
HSAs are of course represented, with Ryan Tiernan, National Accounts Manager with Capital Group | American Funds, presenting “Health Meets Wealth: What Role Do Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Play in Retirement Investing?”
Innovu Chief Executive Officer Hugh O’Toole closes out Day 1 with “The Value of a Retirement Plan for Human Capital Risk Management.”
The Conference then convenes for a Kick-Off Party at Denver’s famed Wynkoop Brewery (founded by former Colorado governor and current presidential candidate John Hickenlooper).
Day 2: Diversity and education
Day 2 starts with an all-star panel from Women in Pensions Network (WiPN): The Benefits of Purposeful Inclusion, including GRP’s Amy Glynn and Morgan Stanley Executive Director Melissa Cowan.
KnowHow 401(k)’s Chris Barlow will reveal “What Top 401(k) Advisors Do Better Than Others.”
Financial wellness will, of course, make an appearance with ARGI’s Fisher presenting on the topic.
“Financial wellness has become such a buzz word that the overall idea has become ‘watered down’”, Fisher notes. “Using the platform’s reporting on the company’s 401(k) allows us to personalize the financial wellness needs and goals to a particular company’s demographics. In this session, learn how we use auditor’s reports to customize our financial wellness sales pitch, personalize the conversation to the particular plan sponsor, and leverage the existing retirement plan to pay for the program.”
401(k) Advisors Intermountain’s Corby Dall talks about the “way can you still differentiate your business with financial wellness while actually driving better outcomes,” since the latest focus in our industry, “is usually saturated fairly quickly and seems to grow stale as soon as everyone is doing it.”
It’s just a sampling of the over 30 sessions during the two-day conference, with a Conference Close-Out Party at Coors Field as the beloved Rockies defeat the despised Dodgers.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
